Archive

Here’s a short behind-the-scenes video of model Tia getting her sugar skull makeup done by Jenny and hair styled by Rhi to get ready for a photoshoot. The video also includes also a couple of clips with model Joshua with his skull makeup already done and getting some final styling touches by stylist Jihan Amer.

The theme of the shoot was based on the Dia do los Muertos (Day of the Dead) holiday in Mexico, but with a seasonal spring blossom twist. I'll be posting more information about this shoot soon, so keep an eye on my blog.

Here are a some some photos that I took on the roof deck of The Studio by Mika Does Makeup with model Ariel K. Marie. It was pretty cold up there so it was a very quick shoot! It’s a beautiful location with a great view, so I'm looking forward to another shoot when the weather gets a little warmer. I hope that you have a happy Valentine's Day!

Thanks also to Tiffany May Photography who collaborated on this project, providing much inspiration, creativity and assistance!

Production

For the background, we used "Super White" seamless paper, available from Savage or B&D. It glows blue under black light. We cut different sized hearts out of pink fluorescent bristol board and hung them from the studio's ceiling with fishing line. We set up four 48 inch 40 watt fluorescent black light tubes - one on each side of Rachel, one overhead and the fourth on the floor to surround the model with black light.

Here's what the setup looked like (the fourth tube on the floor is not shown):

Skin tends to look very dark under black light, so to help make the model's face more visible, we positioned a White Lightning X800 strobe with a grid in front of the model, and for some the shots we used a hand-held white LED flashlight to light the model's face. We also used a white disk reflector, which gave off a blue glow, to help light the model.

Camera settings
Initially, I used ISO 100, f/1.4, 1/25th second exposure with a Sigma 30mm lens. I then wanted to get some shots with a longer focal length so I switched to my 50-200 mm using ISO 200 and 1/10 sec at f/2.8. I used a tripod and a cable release to minimized unwanted motion blur. I wanted to minimize noise by using the lowest ISO that I could get away with. Depending on your camera, you may be comfortable going to higher ISO and faster shutter speeds.

Post-processing
I used Lightroom 3.3 to adjust the colours, exposure, noise reduction, and some local brush adjustments. I completed the editing in Photoshop CS4 - mainly retouching and removing the visible fishing lines that the hearts were attached to.

Previously, Amisha and I did an Indian wedding photography session. The results were great, so we decided to go with a Bollywood fashion and glamour theme this time, with sarees and salwar kameez outfits.

Here's a music video slideshow with the images from the session:

Credits
Model Amisha Sampat.
Hair & Makeup: Makeup Royale
Designer: Carma Collections
Photography by Lloyd K Barnes
To create this video, I used Animoto, which is a great way to put together photos and video clips to make a music video style of presentation.

You can also check out the photographs in my Bollywood online gallery.

The video is also on YouTube so you can watch it on iPhones, iPads and iPod Touch devices.

I recently took a photographic art history course that covered photography from the beginning to 1979. Here are five of my favourite 20th century portrait and fashion photographers. I love surrealism, quirky subjects, striking graphic design, and amazing technical skill. I have picked these photographers because they have created iconic images that continue to delight viewers and inspire us all!

Man Ray (1890-1976)

Man Ray was an American avant-garde photographer who worked in Paris during the 1920s and 30s. He experimented with techniques such as solarization and photograms and was influenced by, and part of, the surrealist art movement. His work in turn has influenced future generations of photographers.

Le Violin d'Ingres - Man Ray (1924)

Tears - Man Ray (1930-32)

Martin Munkácsi (1896 - 1963)

Martin Munkácsi was one of the first photographers to use movement and action in fashion photography. He photographed many different subjects including photojournalism and sports, and excelled in getting a sense of motion on his photographs. His motto was "Think While You Shoot"!

Philippe Halsman (1906 - 1979)

Philippe Halsman was a celebrity portrait and fashion photographer. He photographed Marilyn Monroe, Albert Einstein, John F. Kennedy and many others. His also worked with Salvador Dali and produced the book "Dali's Moustache" in 1954. His technical skill and creative work are amazing!

Irving Penn (1917 - 2009)

Irving Penn photographed for Vogue magazine in the 1940s and continued doing fashion, portrait and still life for over six decades. His work is visually stunning with a great eye for detail and composition.

Richard Avedon (1923 - 2004)

Richard Avedon photographed for Harper's Bazaar, Vogue and many other magazines, and his portraits were often shot against a plain background with full attention on the subject. His ability to capture mood and emotion through expression and movement was one of his many photographic talents.

Monica Fraser is a graduate of the Vancouver Community College’s (VCC) Fashion Arts program. She was one of the designers at the VCC graduate fashion show that I wrote about in an earlier post. I was thrilled to have the opportunity to photograph her designs in the studio. In this session I photographed three beautiful outfits, each designed around the motif of the peacock.

I was fortunate to be able to work with an awesome model, Charr, and talented makeup artist Tessa Mitz as well.

The first outfit featured a 2.5 meter train made from a vintage print from Vienna over a natural linen dress with a gold silk bolero jacket with pearls and feathers and a golden belt.

Linen Dress by Monica Fraser

The next dress has a handmade bird motif print by Monica Fraser. The fabric is white cotton dipped into caustic soda, waxed, then repeatedly dipped into indigo dye. The dress was finished with feathers, Swarovski crystals and a whimsical bird nest!

Indigo Batik Dress

The third outfit was a beautiful vivid blue silk dress made using four different types of silks with shredded silk on the top to look like feathers. It also has a long tail with Swarovski crystals hanging from it. To go with the dress, is a long black hand embroidered coat with a beautiful peacock design made from silk threads in Vietnam.

Vivid Blue Silk Dress

Feathered Silk Detail

Hand Embroidered Silk Jacket

Charr Wearing Coat by Monica Fraser

Congratulations to Monica for a fantastic collection! Thanks also to Charr for modeling the outfits and to Tessa for the beautiful makeup and hair styling.

I used a 5 foot long softbox positioned vertically to light the beautiful satin dress from the camera's right side. To fill in the shadows, I used another softbox on the left that was set about a stop lower intensity than the first one.

The makeup for this shoot was inspired by Audrey Hepburn photos from the early 1950's and the hairstyle has a 1940's look.

I used a 5 foot long softbox positioned vertically to light the beautiful satin dress from the camera's right side. To fill in the shadows, I used another softbox on the left that was set about a stop lower intensity than the first one.

The background is a grey muslin lit with a a gridded X800 and directed across the background to the accentuate the wrinkles by creating shadows. The strobes were triggered with Cybersyncs. The post-processing was done with Lightroom 3.2 and Photoshop CS4.

The Women in Leadership Foundation (WIL) held its 3rd annual gala dinner on November 6, advice 2010 at the Fairmont Waterfront Hotel in Vancouver. The SuperWomen & Friends: Sea of Possibilities event featured silent and live auctions in support of the mentorship program, 3 course dinner, keynote speech by entrepreneur Joyce Groote, a fashion show, and a mini-makeover bar with professional makeup artists and hairstylists.

WIL Founder Maya Kanigan

Keynote Speaker Joyce Groote

The fashion show featured beautiful designs from Wear Else, Invito Couture and the Jacqueline Conair Collection with great work by the models, makeup artists and stylists.

Let there be fashion!

The graduates of the Vancouver Community College Fashion Arts Program showed their creations last night at a fantastic show held at Rocky Mountaineer Station in Vancouver. The show featured the work of 21 graduating fashion designers, each of whom had 4 pieces in the show. The production was spectacular with great models, makeup, hair styling, music, lighting and of course catering! But the emerging designers were centre stage with some incredible work.

I took as many photos of the outfits as I could! I have previously photographed the designs of one of the graduates, Ana Jost, and I love her work. It was a pleasure to see her graduating and finishing this phase of her fashion design career.

All the designers' work was very impressive and I'm looking forward to seeing more from them in the future, and I hope to use their designs in my photography as well.

You can view all of the outfits in the music video below, or view the photos here.

Congratulations to all the graduates for your amazing work!

Here's the video on YouTube if you are unable to view the flash version above:

Let there be fashion!

The graduates of the Vancouver Community College Fashion Arts Program showed their creations last night at a fantastic show held at Rocky Mountaineer Station in Vancouver. The show featured the work of 21 graduating fashion designers, each of whom had 4 pieces in the show. The production was spectacular with great models, makeup, hair styling, music, lighting and of course catering! But the emerging designers were centre stage with some incredible work.

I took as many photos of the outfits as I could! I have previously photographed the designs of one of the graduates, Ana Jost, and I love her work. It was a pleasure to see her graduating and finishing this phase of her fashion design career.

All the designers' work was very impressive and I'm looking forward to seeing more from them in the future, and I hope to use their designs in my photography as well.

You can view all of the outfits in the music video below, or view the photos here.

Congratulations to all the graduates for your amazing work!

Here's the video on YouTube if you are unable to view the flash version above:

Music for the video No Return! by Romahichi
I recently wanted to take some photos of some antique glass apothecary jars and used a technique called "bright field lighting". Glass is tricky to shoot because it is both transparent and reflective. If you are not careful, treatment you will lose the definition of the edge of the glass and and unwanted reflections and highlights.

Let there be fashion!

The graduates of the Vancouver Community College Fashion Arts Program showed their creations last night at a fantastic show held at Rocky Mountaineer Station in Vancouver. The show featured the work of 21 graduating fashion designers, each of whom had 4 pieces in the show. The production was spectacular with great models, makeup, hair styling, music, lighting and of course catering! But the emerging designers were centre stage with some incredible work.

I took as many photos of the outfits as I could! I have previously photographed the designs of one of the graduates, Ana Jost, and I love her work. It was a pleasure to see her graduating and finishing this phase of her fashion design career.

All the designers' work was very impressive and I'm looking forward to seeing more from them in the future, and I hope to use their designs in my photography as well.

You can view all of the outfits in the music video below, or view the photos here.

Congratulations to all the graduates for your amazing work!

Here's the video on YouTube if you are unable to view the flash version above:

Music for the video No Return! by Romahichi
I recently wanted to take some photos of some antique glass apothecary jars and used a technique called "bright field lighting". Glass is tricky to shoot because it is both transparent and reflective. If you are not careful, treatment you will lose the definition of the edge of the glass and and unwanted reflections and highlights.

Here are a couple of photos from a recent fashion shoot with model Joleen and makeup artist/hair stylist Elizabeth McLeod. The makeup was inspired by Audrey Hepburn photos from the early fifties and the hairstyle has a vintage forties look.

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This is the second part of the shoot that I did with Charity,Jennifer Ruth and Celina Prado. In Part 1 we did 2 pop fashion looks. In Part 2, here's a futuristic fashion theme with black lights, smoke and neon colours!

We used two outfits for this shoot. The first was a black dress with neon pink stripes on the sides (H&M, $39.95), Red Dollhouse boots (Winners, $18) and a rainbow purse (Value Village, $5.99). The second outfit was a white top (H&M, $14.95), Orange knee-high socks (Winners, $2), Harajuku Lovers purse (Winners, $88) and blue Dollhouse heels (Winners, $16). Proof that you can be fashionable on a budget! Here are some of the photos from the shoot.

It was a lot of fun and as a photographer, I really enjoy using unusual lighting like the black lights and effects like the fog machine!